Sony Officially Unveils 84-Inch 4K TV
Sony's rumored monster HDTV is now officially heading to the States later this year.
As previously rumored, Sony Electronics plans to launch an 84-inch 4K 3D TV at Sony Stores and select retail locations in North America later this year. Labeled as the XBR-84X900, this monster-sized HDTV will be equipped with a 4K (3840 x 2160) LCD panel packing Sony's 4K X-Reality PRO Picture Engine with up-scaling capability to 4K.
"From Trinitron to HD, 3D and now 4K, Sony has led the way, innovating TV since 1968. This new model redefines what consumers should expect from their television’s performance," said Brian Siegel, vice president of Sony Electronics’ TV Group. "Our professional division continues to see the migration toward 4K content creation with major film and broadcast productions. Armed with this knowledge and expertise, only Sony continues to push the television experience with innovation and immersive products."
According to Sony, the 4K TV incorporates a 10 Unit Live Speaker system which is optimized for the large-sized screen and envelops the viewer in virtual 5.1 surround sound. The side speakers are also detachable, allowing consumers to connect to an existing home theater system. The specs reveal that the 4K TV has a 50 watt total output, and a 10-unit speaker system including a subwoofer. Other audible features include a 10 degree inward facing array, and S-Force Surround 3D.
As for the screen itself, Sony said viewers can watch video on the large screen and not see any degradation of image quality traditionally associated with larger screen sizes. "High-resolution processing powers a 3D viewing experience that exceeds Full HD resolution," the company said. "The accompanying 3D glasses use a light and comfortable passive design, allowing viewers to enjoy 3D footage on an impressive large screen the same way they would in a movie theater."
Naturally this monster-sized HDTV will have direct access to the Sony Entertainment Network via a built-in Wi-Fi connection. A tablet or smartphone can even be used as a remote (via the Media Remote App), allowing users to sit back and pull up movies, TV shows, music and other media through Music Unlimited, Video Unlimited, Netflix, Pandora, Yahoo! Broadcast Interactivity and more than 50 other "popular internet entertainment providers."
The spec list reports that the HDTV features a Dynamic Edge LED backlighting design, local dimming, Full HD 3D support, Motionflow XR 960 for a fluid framerate, and support for Wi-Fi Direct, DNLA and Skype. Users can also connect their PlayStation 3 and use the console's PlayMemories Studio to view, share and edit photos in 4K. PC and tablet content can even be streamed to the HDTV using Intelligent Connect.
"Sony leads the way in all aspects of the 4K workflow, from both the professional and consumer perspective," Sony said. "More than 12,500 of the company’s 4K digital cinema projectors are in use at movie theaters throughout the world, and Sony is also leading the way in true 4K content creation with its flagship F65 CineAlta 4K camera. With several 4K movies in production, the first broadcast TV shows beginning to shoot in 4K and Taylor Swift’s release tomorrow of the world’s first-ever 4K music video the content evolution has begun. Also part of Sony’s 4K line-up in the home is the VPL-VW1000ES, the first 4K home theater projector, which was announced last year and is available through custom installers."
For more information about the upcoming 4K 3D TV, head here. It's ok if your jaw hits the table -- we totally get it.
Is that true ?? Both NBC and CBS use 1080i, while ABC and Fox use 720P, AFAIK ()
Yes, 1080i is roughly the same bandwidth as 720p. However, 720p is far superior to 1080i (although this can be debated). You can look up the difference to see why, but the lack of true 1080p content lacks because Cable systems just can't handle it, even compressing the hell out of it, it would just use up too much frequency spaces which would mean they could broadcast far fewer channels.
I'd say we'd be lucky to see 1080p content in 5 years. I wouldn't expect 4K or 8K to hit TV's for far longer than that, unless some major investments are done between now and 2017.
The new High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) draft describes a technology that achieves about twice the compression levels of the current H.264/AVC standard.
more like 2020 .. another factor is that you can stream 1080p content but you need at least a 1.5 2.0 MB sec data rate just to be able to watch it fluidly over the internet most people are still in the 3 Mbit range 12Mbit is good for 720p but not reliable enough for 1080p content .. 18Mb service its reliable on but most people dont have access to something that fast and can also be cost prohibitive.. considering comcast has 100Mbit connection speeds but at 200 or so a month with a 250 GB cap sounds like ISP and Cable TV providers really just want you to have limited features .. and are not interested in taking on the extra capital investments needed to make something like this work .. Im kinda leaning more towards WI DI taking a bigger step into the Internet data pool and possibly seeing greater proliferation with higher data rates .. i think the biggest road block for ISP's is the physical need to maintain a physical cable network to every location in its service area where as with WIDI you could build a few broadcast hubs and disperse them through out the area of service or even piggy back on cell network towers. Once data rates catch up with physical transmission lines then your more likely to see greater proliferation of high resolution images .. considering 4k video is ruffly 4 times that of 1080p you would need at least a 8 to 10 MB connection to be able to stream it with out pause..
Surely the new draft MPEG compression story the other day could lead to 4K videos using the same bandwidth as normal HD, and TV isn't where the investment will come from, it will the premium movie channels and the ordinary TV comes after. People will be happy to watch a grinding weekly TV show in lower def, but they will insist on watching Avengers 3 in 4K and will pay through the nose to subscribe to a movie channel to get it.
Try it, if it works let us know, pics or it didn't happen
They already make 4k monitors and projectors now your going to have to mortage your house and take 10 loans to get 1 seeing they are $35,000 and up to $500,000.00. Here is a link to a list of 4k monitors and projectors. Now start Saving!!!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4K_resolution#List_of_4K_monitors_and_projectors
Come to think of it, about the same time that took for HD to be accepted by the masses.
PS: I still prefer DVD's to Bluray for most movies given that few movies actually benefit from Bluray.
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--1+ .I guess it will take 10 years +/- for 4K to be "affordable" and for a "fair" amount of content to be available.
Come to think of it, about the same time that took for HD to be accepted by the masses.
PS: I still prefer DVD's to Bluray for most movies given that few movies actually benefit from Bluray.
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How can you say you prefer DVD over Blu ray. There is no comparison. Itls not hard totell the difference between the 2 formats, on a large Plasma or LCD screen. DVD is just too low res.
... people still watch broadcast TV and cable?
And I would disagree that 720p is far superior to 1080i. I would however agree if you said it is hard to distinguish the difference between 720p and 1080i in non-fast moving scenes. In scenes with little movement, 1080i would still look better.